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The British authorities on Wednesday indicted two men for the chemical weapons attack in March against a former Russian agent on British soil. The new details add to the evidence that Vladimir Putin's regime is responsible, but his reckless methods are the real stunning.
Police and prosecutors allege that the men they identify as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – almost certainly pseudonyms – arrived at Gatwick Airport on Friday, March 2, introducing the Novichok nerve agent into a small bottle of perfume. They transported the chemical in suburban and subway trains through central London to a hotel where non-lethal amounts of Novichok were discovered two months later.
On Sunday, March 4, they again carried the Novichok alongside hundreds of other people by public transport – they could not have rented a car? – in Salisbury, where they sprayed the chemical on the gate of their target Sergei Skripal. He and his daughter Yulia became seriously ill later in the day, as did police officer Nick Bailey after trying to examine the house. All three spent weeks in the hospital.
The alleged killers then dumped their fake bottle of perfume, which was discovered nearly four months later by Charlie Rowley and his partner Dawn Sturgess, in a trash can for charitable donations. He fell seriously ill. She died of poisoning.
Nothing will come from these indictments. Russia refuses to extradite its nationals, Britain does not even ask. The most effective answer is what Britain and its allies are already doing: sustained financial sanctions against Mr Putin's corrupt regime.
These new details show the public why these sanctions are important. The Kremlin was more than criminally ruthless to a former spy. He was also imprudent on the safety of innocent people who could hinder the task – including the police officer and two members of the public who did it. Anyone on these trains with the Russian assassins, or anyone who can ride near Mr. Putin's henchmen in the future, has an interest in the sanctions going on.
